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Saturday, March 29, 2014

Bánh Bột Lọc Trần (Shrimp and Pork Tapioca Dumplings)

It's Sunday night and I am sandwiched on the couch by my two girls. It's nothing unusual as they often fight to sit or lie next to their mommy every night. It's hard to blog while they are still awake but by the time they fall asleep, I'm tired too :-). So to keep myself alert to blog, I usually need a glass of freshly squeezed, iced cold orange juice made by my husband. Thanks darling!

I was asking my Facebook page readers what I should blog next among the three choices: Roasted Pork (Thịt Heo Quay), Noodle (Bún) or Shrimp and Pork Dumpling (Bánh Bột Lộc Trần). As you may have guessed, the majority voted for Shrimp and Pork Dumpling (Bánh Bột Lọc Trần). Don't worry...these other two recipes will be next on the list. Also I still owe someone a chè bánh lọt (sweet jelly drink) post and I promise I will get to that when the weather is a little warmer.

Bánh Bột Lọc is one of my favorite Vietnamaese snacks. I can never forget the tasty, irresistible Bánh Bột Lọc made by this one lady who strolled around our neighborhood in Pleiku every afternoon with a basket of Bánh Bột Lọc on the side of her arm . Her Bánh Bột Lọc was bite-size - maybe about the size of a teaspoon - but the filling was bursting with wonderful flavors. It's been many years and not only do I remember her food but also her face with the curly short hair. See what food can do to you? LOL.

Heat oil sugar and garlic in a pan at medium high heat until sugar melts and turns golden.

Add the remaining ingredients and saute at medium low heat for about 20-30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

When the sauce becomes thick and coats the pork and shrimp and the color changes to brown, remove it from heat. The meat should taste sweet and salty.

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Preparing Scallion Oil

Heat a tablespoon of oil and slices of shallot in a pan over medium-low. When shallot starts to turn a little golden , turn off the heat and stir regularly until shallot turns golden brown. Add spring onion and salt. Mix well. Set it aside.

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Preparing Dipping Fish Sauce

In a small bowl, combine fish sauce, sugar and warm water. Mix well until sugar dissolved. Add lime juice, garlic and chili pepper.

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Preparing Dough

Empty a bag of flour in a mixing bowl. Add salt and mix well.

Add oil and mix well. Pour boiling water over the flour (be sure the water is boiling) and stir it up.

Kneed it with your palms until dough doesn't stick to the bowl or your hands. Dough should be warm and soft. Divide the dough into 4 balls. Put it in a Ziploc bag to keep it from drying out.

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Molding Bánh Bột Lọc

When using the dough, take one dough out of the bag at a time and kneed it with your hands again to get it soft evenly.

Use your palms to roll out the dough into a long string and cut into small segments about the size of a walnut.

Store them in a bag to prevent from drying.

Use your thumbs and index fingers to press it into a flat circle or you can use a dough roller.

To make perfect circles, I used circle cookie cutter as you've seen in the picture. I bought a set of 3 cookie cutters at Bed Bath and Beyond for about $4.

Be sure not to roll out the dough too thin to prevent it bursting when you boil it.

Add some meat on the middle of the circle dough. Fold dough together to make a ball. Press the edge together to close it up. Repeat this step until you have used up your dough and filling.

Raw Bánh Bột Lọc can be stored in freezer and used immediately without thawing.

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Cooking Bánh Bột Lọc

Set aside a large bowl of cold or ice water.

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add raw dumplings. When the water is boiling again, lower the heat down to medium low. High heat could cause dumplings to burst.

When dumplings are floating, wait for a few minutes until dumplings are translucent and cooked before removing them with a strainer and pour them into a bowl of cold or ice water.

Let them cool down for about 30 seconds, then scoop them up with a strainer and place the into an oil scallion pan.

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Presentation

Place Bánh Bột Lọc on a plate. Sprinkle some fried shallots on top if preferred. Drizzle fish sauce over and enjoy!

10 comments:

hi ms. Loan, thank you for posting this recipe. Did you by any chance delete the banh quai vac recipe? is this recipe almost the same as the one for banh quai vac? thabk you for sharing the yummy recipes with the world.

Hi Ann, I did take it off but I haven't deleted yet. If you want it, I still post it again. It was one of the older posts, therefore, the pictures didn't look good, so I thought I just replaced it with this new recipe. The older post recipe has mushroom in the filling and I use a different type of flour.

i don't want to trouble you but would you mind reposting the banh quai vac recipe please? whole bunch of friends are asking me if I have a copy of it. i dont keep a copy because i thought the recipe will be there forever. :) Thank you!

I'd just like to thank you for this super yummy and easy to follow recipe! I made this for the first time today... And it turned out sooo good! The first few dumplings were a fail as I was unsure of the thickness.. But after a few trials they turned out really well. Thanks! I love eating these and thanks to you,now I know how to make them :)

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About Me

My husband and I have two lovely daughters. I'm incredibly fortunate to be able to stay at home to raise my daughters and experiment with food.
I was probably in love with food from my mother’s womb, but didn’t realize it until I found myself spending every cent of my allowance on snacks and frequently begging my maid to let me help out in the kitchen. The desire to cook was intense. I snuck into the kitchen when my maid was asleep and stole rice and matchsticks so my friend and I could cook it in our toy clay pot. I even bought ingredients from the market to make frozen banana dessert topped with shredded coconut and roasted peanuts and sold them to the neighborhood kids.
These fond memories eventually led to my Vietspices blog - born in October 2010- with the purpose of making memories with my girls and sharing our recipes, but ultimately creating a foundation for charity. I envision something that wound extend beyond my daily bread to encompass the basics of daily living – food, clothing, shelter - for those less fortunate. And this gave birth to The Spices of Life (Hương Vị Cuộc Sống) Foundation. It is under construction as I work out the logistics. Please stay tuned!